Bathed In Crimson
by Appriser
Summary: 10,000 Players. 1000 Beta Players. 100 Floors. 10 Unique Skills. 1 Hero. It was some kind of balanced algorithm that the creator wanted. A journey of swords and skills to reach the top, to save the other 9999 lives. An equation proven to be the most logical...except no one wants to be the hero. What then?
1. Prologue

**_A/N:_**This is, admittedly, my first story and many of the concepts had been inspired by SAO: Australia, The Prince of Swords, both of which are SAO Fanfics, along with other fan fictions I've come across. This is a completely OC story told from the Main OC's POV. I'll be taking liberties here and there for the Game Mechanics and a few other Technical stuff. Critiques are welcome, flames too if you can back it up.

_One Time Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online and I deal with it. Some concepts are borrowed from other authors._

Prologue: The Big Bad Wolf

It was nerve wracking. My fingers were twitching uncontrollably as the grip I had on both my daggers began to tremble. I sucked in my breath; the sensation of the steel sword singing through the air just next to my ear had released a plethora of goose bumps on my arm. It almost felt as if I lost my hearing for a moment there. I threw that disturbing feeling at the back of my mind, a feat that I wouldn't have been able to do had I been an inexperienced twat like I was a year ago. I could see the cyan glow of the enemy's steel scimitar fade as the weapon missed my body. The resounding 'clang' of steel meeting concrete rang in my ears as I threw my body upwards from the barrel roll I had initiated to survive that «Sword Skill». I felt my fingers twitch again and I had to stop myself from letting that overwhelming fear, that oh so poisonous fear eat me from the inside. If I let the fear in now, my grip would slacken and I won't be able to strike back when I need it the most.

The silence began to blanket down on us as my eyes began to register everything as if time itself began to slow down. Whatever adrenaline I was feeling in my body began to pump it into horrendous amounts as my fingers locked on to the black leather grip of my twin daggers. I threw my body down and almost hit the floor, my left leg sliding backwards with my right leg becoming the pillar of support for my body. A stance I had so long gotten used to that it felt like second nature. I spread my arms apart as if I had wings as my wordless roar shattered the blanket of quiet. The daggers in my hands began to showcase its familiar red glow, a glow that had matched perfectly with my hooded red cloak. « Jack The Ripper » was the « Sword Skill » I had activated. Being a practitioner of the « Dagger Class» weapons, my attacks have a tendency of being many, quick, and destructive when applied to the correct area unlike those who practice « One Handed Sword » or « Two Handed Sword » skills that usually focus on hits that deal enough damage even without the Critical Hit Bonus. All these facts, however, were absent in my head as I pushed my right foot against the solid concrete supporting both my opponent, a monster that was commonly known as « Draconic Squire », and me. With inhumane speed, the kind that would be unreachable by normal humans, my body lurched forward and my left arm swung towards the clothed left leg of my opponent's anatomy, the dagger primed and ready to take it out. Before the monster could even lift his scimitar from its place on the floor it had struck not too long ago, I was already behind him, the first strike of my « Sword Skill » connecting splendidly just on top of the knee, a knee that now supported a pink gash across it. The monster would have, should have, tried to turn around but as its preferred pivoting leg had been damaged, all it could do was growl in defiance with its green snout facing the ground. Many could see that if this had happened to them, the battle would have been concluded.

I wasn't part of that many.

Thus, my body kept moving. My feet seemed to glide above the grey concrete floor as my body spun around with my right hand's dagger glowing its eerie crimson. The hit connected, causing the right leg of the enemy to attain the same attributes as his other damaged leg. And I continued my onslaught, my body moving of its own accord as the « Sword Skill » « Jack The Ripper » continued its sequence. My right arm raised itself in an almost lightning quick fashion as my left arm did the opposite: coming down with a mighty slash that could very much imitate a lightning strike. Both strikes hit their mark, the right on the right and the left on the left. Both attacks left pink gashes across their respective biceps as the « Draconic Squire » screeched its pain for the heavens to hear. My arms, however, did not let that screech finish as in a blinding fashion, a final red 'X' highlight showed itself in front of its throat as the monster was decapitated. The prematurely finished scream began to fade moments after only to be replaced by the sounds of a million different polygons exploding in front of my face. Everything seemed so real, as if I was really living my life in the real world. I relaxed my stance, my long red hair over shadowing my face as I gingerly poked the close button of the screen that appeared in front of me. I ignored the Col and EXP I had received from defeating the Draconic Squire in favor of reprimanding myself again.

This is life. This is my only life.

Be it virtual or not, should I die here, I will die on the other side.

My feet then proceeded to give up on me as I crumpled to the floor, my red cloak being trampled over by my body as my hands let go of my daggers. I lifted my head to look at the hauntingly beautiful view of the sky: ashen gray with silver root like lines extending everywhere at irregular intervals. I would have called it tantalizing, but beauty barely ever registered with me when I was fighting for my life. I strained my eyes to stay open, years of hard work having drilled 'safety' and 'caution' into my very being and falling asleep in a Dungeon of all places was tantamount to suicide. It was then that my eyes lazily drifted to the upper part of my screen. The name [LAZARUS] could be read just below a bar that was filled half way through with a sickly yellow-greenish color. I gave a wry smile. I was only 50% away from dying…dying just like that « Draconic Squire » that I had fought. My body suddenly froze. Whatever wry smile I was about to express was held back as I heard footsteps. Footsteps that clanked very much like the armor that my just killed opponent gave away. I berated myself for letting my guard down after defeating a difficult enemy, and would have continued to do so if I was given more time. Right now though, survival was my priority. Expertly, my fingers weaved through the menu screen and selected the « Teleport Crystal ». Said item materialized itself in front of my palm and I gripped on to it as if it was a lifeline, which, in a way, it really was. I quickly raised it into the air and was about to shout 'Algade!' when the clanking stopped.

"Laz!"

And for the second time in the span of 10 seconds, my body froze up like a deer caught in the headlights. I have to stop doing that, then again, when one is high from pants shitting fear, yeah. I turned my head awkwardly in trying to greet my would-be saviors but the teleportation crystal I had in my hand stayed there because you never know. Still, they were in my friend's list for a good reason. I tried pushing my body to stand up, knowing all too well that whatever physical exhaustion we should've felt did not, in any form, exist within this world. Mental Exhaustion, however, ate at me like there was no tomorrow. So despite my body not really protesting at the action of pushing myself up, my mind was, and it proved to be more of a Boss Quest than anything else. Just as I finally managed to wobble up on my feet, a charging tackle once more took me down and said tackle had the pleasure of depleting my health bar by a small margin. I could just hear the sobbing in her voice as she dug her face deeper into my outfit and all the while reprimanding me that I should take care of myself better and stop going out to solo monsters of all kinds. I would have shot off another of my remarks but I was content to just let her win this time. The other 2 of the 'party' finally caught up and slowed down to a walk when they neared the mess that was I.

"Not even a minute past and you're already laying it thick on her. I swear Laz, you have to stop doing that." [ABEL] reprimanded me in his lighthearted way, which meant that he was more envious of my current 'predicament' more than anything else. I shot him a glare that told him to drop the subject. I could be allowed to be grumpy. I did just fight for my life. "Where the hell were you three?" I asked with a slight edge to my voice. Abel seemed to have adopted a look of embarrassment and thanks to the System's Enhancement, everyone could easily see it regardless of how hard he had tried to hide it from us. The other member of the party, however, stepped up to the plate. [THRALL] coughed first to get the girl on me to stop for a bit before he began to tell me a tale of excuses for them not being there. "We were ambushed by a pack of Draconic Pages and since our main damage dealer wasn't there, we took a tad bit longer when it came to finishing them off." He said in that calm tone of his, a tone that I couldn't refute. I gave up on the scolding part of the message I brewed in my head and just attempted to stand up.

"We also have important news." And again, Abel had lost the mischievous attitude he perpetually had. I hated it when I saw that face of his. It was either a really good joke or something seriously dire. I nodded my head towards him; an action that told him to continue.

"The Boss Room has been found. Celine's calling for a conference for the 68th Dungeon Raid."


	2. Chapter 1

02/07/2013

A/N: Okay, so, I'll admit it. Chapter's 1 and 2 have been done for a while, and I'm just using them as buffer since University Life is total dick. Updates are gonna be sporadic, that much I can assure you.

Chapter 1: Another Game

"Get your ass back here!"

The forests became a blur, their greenery and details merging into just one huge chunk of a back drop as lightning coursed through the air. A sword was held up high, an arc of blue energy crackling around it as the stored up energy launched itself in a haphazard manner towards the silver bearded deity. The attack travelled a good 20 feet in a speed so fast, one would have needed a reaction time that was beyond humans to even see it coming. This monster however, with his back turned to it, managed to leap to the side as the attack harmlessly assaulted the ground on where he used to be. In exchange for a few more seconds of his life however, the bearded god fell on to his knees and without even a chance for a strangled cry for help, a wave of blue lightning washed over him as if he was under a current. No, a current wasn't enough to describe it. It was a field filled to the brim with electricity that fried anyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught within it. The deity, after falling against the wave, shattered to a million different polygons before the words [MONSTER KILL!] echoed out in the entire map I was fighting on. I didn't bother to bask in my glory of finally adding another one to my kill list. That asshole had been Kill Stealing the entire game and even I fell to that particular trick once. I opened up the menu, crunched in a few key terms and closed it. Next target was at the middle lane and I felt my nonexistent face, the visage hidden behind the Lightning Revenant's Helmet, light up a grin. It was Viper. I forced my body to glide through the environment again; the ripples left behind by my robes on the river a distant thing at the back of my mind as I raced towards my target. In this game, I wasn't some weak willed flesh bag. I wasn't some noob who didn't know what the difference between a Boots of Speed and a Boots of Elvenskin was. I was Razor, the god damned Lightning Revenant, and I was carrying the game.

"That's enough for today, I guess."

The voice of my friend, Franco, a teenager who stood at a frightening height of 6'4" with a buzz cut that would make anyone remind themselves of one of those soldiers from the military, noted as he took off the Net-Visor from his face. His tough exterior didn't match the silly grin he was giving me when I rolled my eyes and looked at the end game score. My Razor managed to snag myself a 9/3/15 Kill Death Assist Ratio and that in it was a pretty good run for me. Franco got himself a 20/2/6.

"Yes, God of Technology and all that. You better answer that text from your waifu or she might just get mad at you again."

I shot back at him as I tore my eyes off the screen that told me that I wasn't the best yet again. Said eyes travelled towards the clock and I tensed up. It was 5:30. I had class in 20 bloody minutes and I haven't even fixed my hair yet. Before Franco could fire another remark at me in accordance to the bullet I shot at him not too long ago, I rolled off my double bunker bed, slipped on my black sneakers, and grabbed a pen and the nearest piece of paper I could. No time to prepare all of my things and I just hope this is enough. A few minutes later and I found myself making a dash for my next class that was at least a building and 4 flights of stairs left to reach. Now, you must be wondering just why I'm doing this. Why am I, a freshman student in one of the most prestigious universities that existed in the Philippines, rushing to get to class despite being in his 3rd trimester? Well, don't ask me. I don't think I have the time to actually answer that. I soon enough found myself crossing the last room to get to my room and it was only 6:05 PM.

I still had enough time. My hand grasped the iron handle of the door to my classroom and I threw the entrance open. I had prepared myself to get peppered with derogatory statements from my professor due to my 'tardiness' but all I got were a few weird stares from my classmates. I ignored their pointed stares, threw myself on the nearest chair, and attempted to get my breathing in check. I hated running, well, not running. I love the feeling of the wind brushing against my face; I just hate how I'd have to deal with my oxygen supply leaving me so quickly. The door opened again and my eyes snapped towards it, my body quickly straightening as I saw the familiar form of my professor walking through the entrance in her attorney uniform. That was, a simple black leather skirt, a white blouse that ruffled around her neck, and a black blazer. I swore under my breath.

"Everyone, rise."

She meant business today.

The session finished up pretty quickly, with my name being called last to answer the last string of questions she'd pose up. Now, these last few questions were the make it or break it part of our dismissal. I get all of this right, and we get to leave on time. I stumble on even one, and I'll have to answer another set. I could feel the stares of my classmates fall on me as I slowly stood up straight and fiddled with my pocket as if it was one of the most interesting things in the world. The professor fired her first bullet, a question that was discussed a few weeks back and was now a recurring subject due to our current topic. Dodged that one with a good answer. The chain kept continuing as it did until I hit a snag at the last question. I spluttered a bit, biting my tongue back since my professor began crossing her arms; a sure sign that I was about to screw up the answer. I flipped through my notes and gave her the answer.

She called for everyone to rise and gave us the go signal to leave. I released the tension that built up in my shoulders then. I picked up the pen and roll of paper I had brought with me. Absent-mindedly, I looked for my head phones and when I couldn't find them, I had to remind myself that I didn't bring them with me in class today. Without my usual music blocking and filtering the noise that the environment made, my ears managed to pick up the sounds of someone walking towards me. I sighed, and ignored the text message that the vibration in my pants told me that I got, before looking at the person who would actually take the time of day to talk to me. When my brain registered the differently cut black hair, they had brown high lights too, the glistening earring the girl had on her left ear and the face in general, did I only notice that Arvy was talking to me. With all the genius of the cosmos, built with the power of evolution of man, I, the epitome of creation, responded to her question in the most dignified way possible.

"Huh?"

Smooth, bro. Reeeeal smooth. I felt my own brain reprimand me for that rather embarrassing answer and quickly kicked me into high gear lest I make another fool of myself. The girl, however, just found it amusing and gave me a small giggle as a reward for my unconscious effort. She repeated her question, asking me if I could meet up with her so we could discuss the lessons to better prepare ourselves for the up coming exam. How could I say no to that? Specially when she leaned forward a bit and tilted her head in that way that just made her so irresisti-okay, tangent aside, I nodded to her, told her to just contact me the details of where and when. Yeah, with how callous I am with girls, I'm actually surprised that they hadn't collectively planned to lynch me to kingdom yet. I nodded to her after she agreed to the terms of our contract before turning around and waving at her.

One obstacle down, a million more to go, I told myself as I carried my lazy feet into a quick pace just so I could get back to my condominium and kick ass again. Now, before people judge me even more, I'll willingly admit that I'm somewhat of a loner, rather, I'm pretty apathetic about a lot of things that doesn't include gaming or romance somewhere there. It's a weird combination, I know, but as far as I've experienced, it hasn't gotten me into trouble yet and thus is still a good enough choice for my current life style. With my body running on autopilot for the most part of the trip, I finally managed to secure my keys and jam it in the lock, and only when I actually opened the door did I remember that I got a text. Closing the door and turning the lights on, I turned my phone open, pushed in the passcode, and read the message that had been apparently sitting there for the past 10 minutes that took me to get here.

/We got the gear. Get your ass here./

I felt excitement rush in me as I haphazardly threw my pen and paper on the kitchen table before rushing towards the bedroom. I threw the door open, and immediately did I regret not looking at the message earlier. On my bed was the Nerve Gear, a machine that allowed anyone to Full Dive into the Virtual World. My brain more or less just skimmed over the other technical aspects of said machine as my body threw itself forward with my hands making grabby motions towards the helmet. When it was finally within my grasp, I had to run my hands around the surface and grin to myself. Turning my head around to look at my friends, I noted that they were already in the game. I couldn't blame them. I probably took too long for patience to even help at this point. I laid the gear back on the pillow of my bed and I ended up throwing my shirt off of my body before lying down on the bed. Looking at the Helmet from all sides, I found a piece of paper stuck at the back with some tape keeping it in place. The paper held only three words that were enclosed in a bracket. It said [COUP] [ZEROR] [SPIRIT]. I grinned, good to know that Franco, Keith and Joe didn't change their usernames a lot. Having already memorized their names a long time ago, I placed the Gear On my head and took a moment to settle in for a more comfortable gaming position. I threw away that cage like feeling the Nerve Gear gave me, and pretty much a lot of my responsibilities away as I shouted the two words that I would end up cursing for the rest of my life.

"Link Start!"

The world around me began to dissolve into darkness and for a moment, I couldn't really feel anything. I held back my fear of things glitching and trusted in the fact that the creator of the game was a super genius. And then, the following scene could have probably given me a seizure as every color in existence blinded me before I found myself standing on a blank blue platform. I almost screamed in giddiness. Ignoring the matrix of golden numbers flowing around me in a cylindrical manner, I focused all of my attention on the Character Creation Menu that floated in front of me. I took a glance at the time, noting that it was 8:04 PM, and went into fixing my character image. I'll spare everyone the grueling details of me choosing my hair color, outfit color, height, weight, and all that. The end result, however, was someone that never in my entire life could actually look like me. I grinned at the Avatar that I was presented. It was standing at 6'0 feet tall, 2 inches taller than I actually was, had crimson red locks that fell all the way to his broad shoulders with a pair of ruby crimson eyes. A skin tone just a few shades lighter than mine and, well, imagine the common Bishounen and you'll get the entire picture. I tapped 'ENTER' and the confirmation text box appeared before me. It asked me to type down my preferred [NAME] and I quickly entered [LAZARUS] before hitting the 'ENTER' key again.

Once more, darkness over took my senses but instead of the fear that had bathed over me not too long ago, I became enthralled with excitement, excitement to live in the world of Sword Art Online. When the light began to shine in the horizon, I quickly closed my eyes to avoid burning my retinas. Judging that I waited long enough, I reluctantly cracked my eyelids open and I could feel my breath stop at my throat and my jaw drop all the way to China. That stirring, almost electrocuting, feeling in my chest began to swell and swell until I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was seriously here! I was in the Virtual World! I punched the air in front of me with a straight before decking out the space in front of me with a forward kick before pumping my fist to the air. I received knowing looks from people around me and I gave them a grin, a genuine one. The ecstasy of feeling THIS reality was something so mesmerizing that it almost made me forget that everything I saw was just data. At that moment though, I didn't really care as I dashed through the crowd. I noted that I wasn't going as fast as I wanted to but I understood why: my Agility Stat was what was limiting my running speed. Being Level 1 like everybody else, I couldn't really blame anything for the sluggishness. Still, after continuous amounts of running, I noted that I didn't feel tired at all. There wasn't the heavy breathing I'd feel or the sensation of sweat dripping behind my neck to my back. Nothing of the sort and I felt myself laugh again.

The realization hit me: I could run forever. That idea hit me in the head so hard that I promised myself to focus majority of my stats to whatever would let me run faster and faster. Fast enough that I'll simply be a blur. I snapped out of my self-induced indulgence with how bloody awesome I was eventually going to be and finally reached the gates that led to where everyone would eventually spawn in: «Starting City». I didn't really remember the name of the area that was before me and thus ended with me dubbing the area «Starting Plains». Unoriginal, I know, but it mattered very little to me as I felt my virtual feet carry my body again towards the less populated areas of «Starting Plains». Crossing fields upon fields upon fields, I finally managed to find a small clearing that didn't contain a lot of players. In return though, there weren't a lot of monsters either and the only type there would be the «Blue Boar», which, if I remember correctly, was the equivalent of a slime in almost every other fantasy RPG that existed.

One of the many boars was taking a snooze under the left most edge of the clearing. I allowed myself to appraise it with gratitude. The detail placed behind the creature was startlingly similar to what an actual Boar in real life would look like. I was about to throw caution to the wind again, and just rush in to battle like every other guy who wanted to play the game would. Key word 'was about.' Frowning to myself, mentally (?) smacking my ignorance of the situation, I reached forward with my right hand and pinched the air before me with both my thumb and pointer finger before pulling down and opened my [STATUS MENU] with a chime to go along with it. My eyes glided along the options, starting with [STATS] «-» [SKILLS] «-» [EQUIPMENT] «-» [ITEMS] «-» [OPTIONS]. Those were the 5 choices I had that appeared. I quickly hovered my finger over the [EQUIPMENT] button and tapped it. Instantly, my equipment window appeared in front of me. I clicked my tongue as I noted that I only had the starting equipment which consisted of an «Iron Sword», «Cotton Shirt», «Cotton Pants», «Leather Boots».

They were all equipped at least, which meant that I should be able to attack with the sword that was strapped in a leather sheath behind my back. I absentmindedly drew the one handed sword with my right hand as I hovered my left hand over the menu again and tapped on [STATS]. Much like my equipment window, the stats window instantly opened up before show casing me my current standing on the matrix of power in the game. 5 abbreviations were the ones that stood out the most in a Pentagon Shaped Graph. They were [STR] [AGI] [DEX] [VIT] [LUK]. I hovered my left finger over the abbreviations and fortunately, they had a small window that would appear to give a guide and summary of what the skill did. Reading over the guides, I managed to summarize what each abbreviation stood for.

[STR] meant Strength, as if that wasn't obvious enough to a gamer like me. Strength basically increases the base damage a character can dish out against monsters and increase the over all amount of things one could carry. [AGI] stood for Agility, my preferred stat in majority of the games I've played. Agility basically allowed me to move and see things faster. Moving faster isn't limited to just running, but how fast I could draw and swing my weapon as well. It also shortened the «Cool Down» of something called «Sword Skills». Obviously, the «Sword Skills» would be under the [SKILLS] menu, which I'd check out later. [DEX] stood for Dexterity, and I was actually surprised to see that Dexterity was a deciding factor in Critical Hits as compared to the Luk value. I made sure to remember that little tidbit of information. Dexterity apparently made my transition better, and since it increased the mastery over my hands, I guess that was what would determine just well the strike would be. It also helped lower the cool down for the sword skills. [VIT] stood for Vitality, and it raised our tolerance to damage. The higher the Vitality of a player was, the higher the HP would be along with the base defense. It also reduced the chances of getting stunned by continuous attacks. Reading all of that, I took a moment to let the information sink in before I however over [LUK].

[LUK] stood for Luck…and that was it. I quirked a red eyebrow at this as my red eyes judged the definition and role of 'Luck' in a game such as this. I sighed, well, no need to work myself up on something that I never really raised in other games except if I wanted a Critical Hit bonus, but seeing as Dexterity did that for me, I really had nothing left for it. Well, now that I knew what the hell my stats did, I might as well check out what I currently have. [STR] [AGI] [DEX] and [VIT] all had 5 as the base number but there were also plus signs next to some of them. [STR] had a + 2 to it, [AGI] had a + 2 to it as well with [VIT] having a whopping + 5. [DEX], unfortunately, remind a static 5 but I was fine with that. My equipment would most likely be the ones responsible for all of the bonus points and since this was the starting set, I'm sure that everyone else has these as well. I closed that particular window and opened up the [SKILLS] window. Lo and behold, I was right when I thought that it had the aforementioned thing called «Sword Skills» in them along with a number of slots that were highlighted for me. I also had a list of «Skills» that I could choose from, which, using my awesome skills in deduction and reasoning, would most likely fill up a high lighted Skill Slot for me.

I looked over the available Skills to me at the moment and I remembered the class that I would most often use in RPGs. There wasn't even hesitation in my fingers as I tapped the «One Handed Straight Sword» and «Hiding» skills before dragging the two of them to my first 2 slots. A confirmation window appeared again and I quickly pressed 'Yes.' After said confirmation, my Skills window began to shift and more options came about. With giddiness, I devoured the knowledge as if it was a lifeline. As of the moment, I currently had a list for the One Handed Sword Skills and committed the names to memory. They were «Horizontal», «Vertical», and «Slant». Horizontal and Vertical was, as their name suggested, just a slash in that particular axis. Slant was a simple diagonal slash. I hovered my finger over Slant again, thinking that it had some more info. When the information menu popped out, I saw a miniature version of my Avatar getting into this fighting stance and in an almost instant second, the sword that my Mini-Avatar was holding began to glow a red hue before it executed what I thought would be the «Sword Skill» itself. My Hiding skill, at the moment, was rather pitiful and despite it telling me that I could disappear, it only worked on Targets that used Vision for tracking. Well, that's still a massive help regardless. I'll just work on all the other aspects on my own later on.

Having read all of that information, my mind was already reeling in a bit with the overload, I decided to finally do what I came here for. Checking around to make sure that there were no aggressive monsters lurking around, or players even, I activated my Hiding Skill and stealthily, in my opinion anyway, crept towards the left flank of the snoozing boar that I had targeted not too long ago. With the «Iron Sword» gripped tightly on with my right hand, I once more had to marvel at the realism of such a thing. The grip was no Arnis Stick but it still felt so real in my hands. I grinned as I fell into the pose my mini avatar showed me for the «Slant» skill. Picking the front leg to be a good enough target for my first ever execution of a sword skill in the game, I felt the energy in me bubble up until it begged to be release. With a shout filled with confidence, enthusiasm, and excitement, the red glow of my sword began to trail behind the iron blade, where the blade sung downwards in a diagonal fashion, and, with a satisfying 'gasha' like sound, connected with the «Blue Boar»'s flesh.

The attack itself had managed to deplete at least 50% of the Boar's total HP, depleting the HP bar that was just above it into the sickly yellow zone. Two things immediately happened after my Skill was executed. The first that I noticed was that, as soon as I tried to do a follow up attack to continue the onslaught against my opponent, I couldn't move my body at all. It was as if I was lagging. This was probably the cool down that the information menu kept talking about. The second thing I noticed was that, when the sword skill connected, the Boar itself was sent flying. Not that far though, as the trajectory of the Boar collided with the tree near to it. The boar made a smacking sound against the tree and I saw more of its health points disappear. I grinned, noting that my body could now move, and once more got into a ready stance. My sword gave me at least 2 and half a feet more reach with my attack and the Boar was at least 2 meters away from me thanks to the knockback. I saw the Blue Boar bristle its fur, the angry red eyes looking at me with such realistic hate that I felt my legs quiver. It's only a game, I told myself, tried to convince myself, but the hatred in those eyes were just so realistic, that I lost myself in them. I never noticed the Boar, who only had 30% left in its HP Bar, charge at me. When I did notice the attack coming at me, I was too late to counter it with a Sword Skill, and really, I was too late to do anything.

I felt the snout of the charging boar connect with my gut, and much like the savage animal, I was sent flying back. I landed in a crumpled heap and shakily stood up. My automatic reaction was to cradle my stomach with my left arm as I wobbly raised my beginner's sword to try and defend myself against the charging boar. I made the mistake of looking at those eyes again, eyes filled with malice and my stance fell apart. Another charge attack got to me and I was once more thrown back to the center of the clearing. I saw my HP Bar blink more and more, until I just saw it hovering around 30%. The sickly yellow color was already turning into a hue of orange darker and I refused to allow my first death to be against a damn «Blue Boar» of all things. I sucked in my breath and stood up, immediately falling into the stance for «Slant» and waited for it. The boar that had the same life left as me patted the ground with his front leg, the same leg that I had targeted with my first attack.

A silent challenge passed between us and within a moment's notice, the Boar charged the same time my Sword began to glow red. I held the attack back, waited for the right time to strike. I trusted my instincts and finally let loose. The attack of my sword skill collided with the left temple of the boar and a squeal was heard before the shattering of a million polygons echoed in my ears. I looked at the Experience Points and Col I got from the win, along with some of the drops, before closing the window. I felt a different kind of feeling bubble in my chest. I think I'll name it pride. I pumped my fist into the air and with a wordless shout of victory echoing, I officially declared that I love this game. I, [LAZARUS], have claimed my first Kill in Sword Art Online and man, does it feel rewarding. I swung my sword in a flourish, getting into a so-called original fighting stance and turned towards the next boar. I was feeling invincible and I'm sure as all hell that I don't need to heal myself for the next battle. I charged right in and towards another boar. My hand was already readying itself for the same pose as Slant, the same pose that took the life of a similar boar. My grin was frenzied, laughing, and sadistic. I was going to slaughter this entire field to my hearts content! I will be king! Nothing will stop me from receiving my birthright! And as I came closer to dishing out the first strike against the second boar, I felt my body get thrown to the side, my HP falling to 0% in a second and my eyes widened. I couldn't even say 'Fuck!' before my body exploded into a million polygons.

My body went through the motions of another «Vertical», the crimson trail of my sword flashing and blinking out of existence before me as the shattering of polygons did the same. The squeal from a «Wild Blue Boar», the aggressive version of the «Blue Boar», rang in my ears as I sheathed the «Iron Sword» back in its scabbard that was strapped on my back. I counted the col and experience that I had gained from that particular meet up. I shrugged my shoulders, feeling the mental strain on executing so many Sword Skills over and over again. The adrenaline rush of being in the launch of the first ever VRMMORPG had already died down but I would be lying if I found the game any less entertaining than when I started out…how long ago? Checking the time on my screen, my eyes threatened to bulge out of my eye sockets. It was already 1: 52 in the morning! I know I don't have class the next day but…almost 6 hours…it only felt like 2 hours tops! Still, just because it's already 2 am doesn't mean I have to log out, right? I'm 18 for fuck's sake, I can do what I want, and if I want to run through another wolf pack and try taking them down on my own, then I bloody hell will. And just to prove my point to no one in particular, my ego telling me to actually do said action, I opened up my status menu and clicked [ITEMS]. Materializing a Potion of Minor Healing, I slowly tipped the bottle whose contents tasted like apple juice and began to drink the revitalizing concoction. I allowed myself to ponder for a moment in that area to let the potion take its effect. My health had finally begun to rise up, and even if it was faster than simply letting my body recharge on its own, it was still much slower than what I would have wanted.

Activating my «Hiding» skill for the time being and I began to stalk around the forested area, officially called «Iron Forest» due to the apparent abundance of iron-like materials that one can find around the place, until I was content with an area I'd deem 'safe.' Of course, there are probably some designated «Safe Zones», where monsters are nonexistent and no matter what you do, minus Dueling, your health wouldn't even drop. My 'Safe Zone' wasn't exactly that but it was devoid of players and devoid of monsters, which, in essence, pretty much did the same thing for me. Snuggling myself under one of the giant roots that had been uprooted and filled in to create some sort of mini cavern, I once more went through the motions of opening my status window and this time, I tapped on my [STATS].

Satisfied with the amount of ExP I had accumulated over the past 6 hours; I began to look over my current proficiency and build. «One Handed Straight Sword» was currently at 14/1000 and «Hiding» was at a pitiful 5/1000. Then again, I have had little use for Hiding for the time being, seeing as there was nothing to actually hide from as of yet, so I didn't bother raising it too much. Leaving my «Skill Tree» aside for the moment, I began to focus on my Stat Build. Having leveled up to level 2, all of my base stats, except for [LUK] which still remained a mystery to me, had each risen by 3 points, that which I took note of. Having 3 points to allot to my stats, I grinned at myself before punching it all towards [AGI]. Leaving me with a base of 8 for [STR], [DEX], and [VIT] and a good 11 for my [AGI]. Closing the window as I noted that my HP Bar was at max again, I began to stalk outside of my little cave; ready to face the world once more when my Avatar froze. I didn't do anything, and I was sure that I was still commanding my virtual body to keep on moving, but no matter what I tried; my body didn't want to respond. I let out a small breath, breath that wasn't really needed in this virtual world of data, when I felt my body literally stop at the motion of blue lights flickering around me.

And for the nth time that day, my body was transported to who knows where.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, school copped out on me. Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 2: Monsters And Reunions

It honestly did feel weird. In a game where no magic should exist, well, no magic that the players could cast should exist; the feeling of having your body slowly disintegrate right in front of your very eyes was an experience that I'd chalk under jarring. The blue lights looked like they were eating me away as they landed on my body one by one. Soon enough, all I could see was the sickening color of blue everywhere and the next moment, all I could see was the «Plaza» in the very center of «Starting City» that was slowly but surely being filled to the brim with players. Players who, if I looked at it with an objective eye, had the most retina burning color combinations available in the game. I could see the rewards of that in a PvP match but as of the moment, I was a lot more concerned as to why I was brought here against my virtual will. I looked around, seeing as there was really nothing else that I could do at the moment, and with my ever-useful eyes did I manage to spot the confusion in the eyes of everyone and even some aggressiveness here and there.

Then again, I can't really blame them.

For all I know, they could've been hunting some rare mob and was about to kill it when they were forcefully taken away from their prize. I mean I'd be pretty pissed if that happened to me. I started to move around, and if my gut feeling was right, then everyone should be here. The word 'everyone' meant that my best friends should be here too. I did what I could to look for them, but the increasing amounts of blue lights appearing everywhere was distracting me more than I thought they would. Shouts of 'where the hell's the log out button' did, however, manage to catch my attention almost immediately. I told myself that these guys were just horsing around, that hey, what kind of gaming company doesn't include a log out button in the menu? That was a lot worse than not having the agility stat in a game. Despite telling myself that its just people being people, I could still feel the trepidation and dread in my stomach, my gut twisting in it as the feelings began to convulse. I had to lean against the wall in an attempt to keep my vision and myself steady as my emotions began to run high in panic.

"This is just a joke, right? I mean, it's probably around 2:30 am right now or something…I should probably log out. I…I still have to prepare for that meeting with Arvy…yeah; she'll be pissed if I don't get there on time. I need to study for it too…ha, yeah…"

I tried to keep myself calm, tried to give delusions to the reasons that I didn't want to believe that. I snapped myself out of it, cold sweaty hands achingly reaching forward. I didn't know what I was thinking, but I sure as hell knew what I wanted to see. It took me three tries to focus my fingers enough to have them open the menu properly. That comforting chime entered my ears through the chaos that everyone was falling into. I reluctantly tapped the [OPTIONS] tag. Slowly, I traced my fingers down the choices until it finally landed on empty space. Everything suddenly became a blur, my ears became deaf and my eyes began to simply zone in on that empty space.

"This can't be, right? Hey…hey! What the hell man?! Where the hell's the log out button?! I want to get out of this god damn game! Let me out!"

Who was shouting? He sounded familiar though, as if I've known him all my life. I raised my hands to my face and I could feel my jaw moving. It moved the same time I heard that ugly voice screaming. Right…I was the one screaming. My panicking state…calling it panic seemed to be an understatement compared to what I was seeing. And then, as if a beacon of attention shot throughout the sky, someone pointed upwards. Everyone I saw looked up and I felt my head follow their sight. I felt the air in my lungs vanish, my sweet, sweet oxygen leaving me like a fish out of water. I tried to breathe but all I could do was just stare at the darkening sky. I squinted my eyes at the sight, trying to focus on to anything, anything at all to get my head out of the fog of fear. Turns out I was focusing at the wrong thing. Yes, the entire sky dictating [SYSTEM ERROR] in the darkest shade of crimson I've ever seen was horrifying, as if there was something inherently wrong with the servers, but that wasn't what should have made me fearful.

No, it was the massive…thing that suddenly shot out of the ground from the horizon.

3 figures leapt from the tower but I was too out of it to really take into detail what I just saw. The shadowed lines that represented the figures then began to blur away as the floor of the «Plaza» began to change texture. I dared myself to look down, and the sight of blood and gore, bits of skeleton and clothing along with it, began to form itself around the fountain at the very center. I wasn't sure if it was bile that I had swallowed but I would have rather unleashed the contents of my stomach there and then as the blood began to form into a semi humanoid creature. The thing began to float upwards, the disturbing sight of guts and bones forming into the normal human body before a green and red robe thing began to encase it.

**"Denizens of the Sword, welcome to my world. I am your new God, the creator of Aincrad, and the being that has trapped your souls into this plane of existence."**

My ears didn't want to listen; my eyes didn't want to see. All I wanted to do now was to sit into a ball in some corner and wish everything were just back to normal. I raised my hands to my ears to cover them in an attempt to mute out this madman's nightmarish voice.

**"I am in the mood of being generous, and thus, I shall…oblige to your pleas for knowledge."**

I could almost hear the thing…that demon laugh at us.

**"The disappearance of your log out button is not a bug, it is a design of my own creation and the only way for you or for anyone to be released from this…this magnificent world of sword and steel would be…"**

A chance to escape? It was possible? I didn't even register it but I had begun to push people out of my way, trying to get closer to the being up above us. I wanted to know, nay, I needed to know. I want to leave this world and never come back! I pushed the last person in front of me that kept me from the fountain. I tried to climb up said structure but a barrier prevented me from doing it. The words [IMMORTAL OBJECT] began flaring around it and all I could do was fall on my backside and listen in horrid tantalization.

**"To vanquish every floor and reach my castle, the most heavenly castle of all! If you can best me in combat, then, through the graciousness of my heart shall I set everyone free."**

I could feel hope swell in my chest. There was a chance! All I had to do was find my friends, find anyone willing and we could charge in through the floors! We just have to combine our efforts and we'll be out in no time!

**"However, anyone whose HP drops to 0 from here on out, be disconnected, or have the Nerve Gear removed from their body forcibly, will die not only here but in the other world as well. Sadly, 89 people have already left my world, and theirs. Forever."**

And just like that, my hopes were dashed out akin to a candle flame being snuffed away. I felt my fingers grow cold once more; my body feels as if it turned into lead without me noticing. The other faces around me simply became blanks as I lost focus in the world.

**"And as a parting gift, I have left everyone a simple item essential to the completion of their grand quest. This ends the official 'tutorial.' Once more, I welcome you all to Sword. Art. Online!"**

My hands were moving at the speed of light, opening my inventory with practiced ease as I clicked at the blinking item without even bothering to check out its name. I quickly stood up and held the thing that materialized on my hand. It looked to be a simple red compact mirror. For something so small, so small that it didn't even cover up my entire hand, it felt heavy. No, I guess I was wrong at that. The compact mirror was very light, almost as light as a feather actually. What was heavy was the pressure that the 'God' had left behind. It was a blanket of fear, anxiety and a plethora of negative emotions. I wanted to sink down to my knees, surrender to the power of the deity…but if I do that now…I shook my head. There was no point of thinking like that right now. I raised the mirror to my face, expecting to find something to help me out in my journey.

I entertained the thought of seeing a map to locate some all powerful sword to help slay the demons that lay ahead of me, or maybe some sort of «Key Item» that signified something. What I got instead was a surprise that still gets me to this day. The glint of the artificial light bounced off of the mirror for a moment and I had expected to look at a face of my own creation. The red mane that could have rivaled rivers of crimson blood turned into a mop of messy black hair that was only long enough to reach past my nose if pulled down. The red eyes that could have rivaled the devil himself became a dull black, weak and soporific even. The over all aura of the Anti-Hero image I had painstakingly built to my preference was taken away from me and in return, left me with the face that I was born with. I had failed to register the polygons that appeared in front of my face, the compact mirror now dissolving into thin air as it rose up to the heavens. My eyes were looking straight ahead but I couldn't see anything. My fingers shook, and then my fingers began moving around in a twitch like fashion.

"Ha…hahaha…"

It felt coarse, my throat appearing to have been constricted by an Anaconda, as I couldn't breathe for a moment. I looked all around me and the familiar sight of polygons shattering into the air along with the avatars that I once held in secret admiration for the detail and effort put into it. Now, all I could see were normal looking people, some were subpar even. The 'beauty' I had enthralled myself with had been shattered much like the mirrors that revealed our true selves. Soon enough, my body began to wobble as my legs threw me back against the fountain I had so desperately tried to climb not so long ago. All I could do was sit there like a joke, looking at everything as if I wasn't even there.

That's right, I'm not really here. I'm just having a bad dream. I'll wake up eventually, maybe even go on Skype the moment I do and tell my sister how weird this dream is. She'll probably laugh at me, and I will too. Yeah, I'll just sit here. I'll be safe in the middle of the crowd. I'm in the «Starting City» so my health would never go down. I won't die inside the plaza, yes; I'll be safe here. Still, if I was just sitting here, then my environment shouldn't be changing nor should I feel as if I'm not touching the ground. I tried to move my arm forward and I could, it only took a bit more effort than I thought it would take. I moved it forward, my fingers tapping the 'X' on the menu in front of me. Something about the Harassment Code or something like that. I felt something land on my cheek and my eyes soon enough followed the lingering sensation to see what it was. It was black, leather and looked to be strong. I trailed my eyes upwards to see where it was connected to, a roll of cotton wrapped around something cylindrical, though not completely since I could see it bend somewhere along the way. I continued my little game of following the trail of cotton before I saw something sway into my vision. I saw a face and things began to register.

"Let go of me! I don't want to leave the City! I'll give you all of my equipment just don't take me!"

I fought with tooth and nail to get my body away from these monsters that tried to take me away from my safe haven. These weren't people, these were murderers, I bet they were planning to throw me to the Boars outside and kill me. No one needed a weakling anyway, but I wanted to live. I tried punching forward, kicking backward, waving everywhere in an attempt to get away. All I could get for my efforts, however, was a purple hexagon that displayed the message «Immortal Object». And then, a smack to the back of my head that was awfully reminiscent of brick making contact with flesh. I couldn't really feel the pain but the buzz that gave me a slight amount of discomfort coupled with the fear in me, I might as well have been stabbed in the kidney for all I cared.

"…we do? He's…out of…stop?"

I could only make out different voices spouting random things as I attempted to get my bearings back. Whoever these people were, they took a break and I was sure enough on the floor. This was my chance to escape! I took a moment to get my senses ready, and when I finally got a feel for my limbs again and the voices had stopped, I threw myself backwards into a roll and began running towards my left. I got on my feet; I had a better chance of getting away now! One, two, four steps, I was going to make it! I should be able to run faster than them too! I had put all of my level 2 stats to agility after all! I stepped hard with my left foot as I reached the corner. If I can make it through this alleyway, I'll be scot-free! These bastards won't know what got away from them! My face cracked into a small maniacal grin, confident in my own escape. And then I saw the wall rush to my face and I felt that discomfort ring all around my body once more. I couldn't move my arms for some reason and it felt like I was being manhandled.

"Stop running away, Laz! It's us."

I was going to attempt another 'great escape' but that voice stopped me. It wasn't commanding, no, it just felt familiar is all. And the hit to face and head probably cleared up the rush of fear I had been feeling recently. I cricked my neck to the right before raising it up. My hair fell to the side and my breath got caught in my throat. I tried to hold them back, but it was just too great. My eyes begun to sting and I had to blink to even try and get these damnable tears back to where they came. I couldn't help it though, and I could care so much less to see my friends see me cry. They were alive, they weren't dead yet. None of them were stupid enough to try and handle things without the rest. For who knows what time that day, I felt my knees buckle and it was only Franco's [STR] parameter keeping me upright. I let out a small, tired and weak chuckle. I had my friends with me right now, if we were together, there wouldn't be problems, right? We were the best group out there, be it in any game. So long as we were together, we could take down anything. I heaved a sigh of relief, but the painful reality…the painful virtual reality was that, if we die here, we die for real. Our bodies are just gonna stop working with our brains fried if we screw up even once.

"Look, we're all gamers right? And being in an RPG style one, it'll always be a race to who can gather the most resources!" I heard Keith explain to us again; by again I meant that these were the very basics. If we didn't understand this, then we had no hope of getting anywhere. I was still skeptical about what they were planning on doing, because for the most part I knew what they wanted to do. "With that, I propose we go off now while everyone else is still in shock," Keith gave me a pointed look and I had the sense to at least turn my head away in embarrassment. "And lay claim to the «Wolves Hill» so we can get a good farming area." I looked back at my best friend and for some reason, It was difficult to point out, I couldn't tell what had changed in him. His eyes were different, that was for sure. He may have had the same rugged and blemished face, the same long black hair that could double as a helmet if some sort of gel was applied to it, and that irritating stubble of his that he refused to shave unless in the most dire of circumstances, but he was different now. I suppressed a shudder; and here I thought Franco would be the one leading the charge for everything. Joe was being Joe, who stood off to the side but even I could tell that his posture was rigid. The sword he had on his back looked awfully out of place for the jolly guy I pegged him to be. Still, we were all in this together, and I'm sure that each and every one of us would do our best to survive everything. "Let's go." I mumbled and Franco, who stood half a foot taller than me as of now, finally let me go.

"First thing's first though," Franco announced as we all readied ourselves. "Share contacts?"

He said with that stupid smile of his. I tried to give him a reassuring smile back, but I guess it only came out as some sort of grimace. Still, the chime that came along with opening the status menu rang three more times and with a few clicks here and there, I've filled up my friends list with the people that were the most important to me. I breathed in and Franco, probably thinking that I was going to hyperventilate again, gave me a reassuring pat to my back. I looked up to his back as he caught up to both Joe and Keith. I stood there, breathing again to settle down my nerves. I closed my windows and looked at the backs of my companions. Franco, the guy who stood at his imposing height of 6'4", the person I thought that would be leading the charge stayed at the back. His buzz cut remained unchanged and his gait was the same. I took a step forward. Joe, the American who joined the group the latest, stood at the middle. He wasn't smiling like he used to, but he still had that annoying vibe at him that told me all I needed to know. I took another step forward. Then there was Keith, the guy who never took anything serious mostly because he was 'better' than anyone else. Still, I guess that's why he's at the very front. That confidence of his should and, being the friendliest in our group of 4, knew each one of us the best when compared to the others. I started running after them, because there was me. The shortest one of them all, the fastest one too and that annoying [Peasant] that refused to die. I tackled Keith by his neck, wrapping my right bicep around him, in an effort to drag him down to the floor with me.

"And who said you could act so damn cool?!"

I scolded him with the biggest grin I could try and muster at the moment. It wasn't much but it was enough to at least get Keith to laugh again as he pushed me off of him. It was enough of a challenge to the others too. I turned my head at them. "Where's the Hill?" Joe just pointed towards the North East and I hopped on the balls of my feet. We all grinned.

_**"Race you."**_

The four of us said it at the same time, the time we've spent with each other coming to light for a moment there, before Franco shot off first. Followed by Keith and then Joe. I gave them a second for a head start before I ran too. The concrete blocks of «Starting City», all of them tiled in the most organized manner, began to lose its shape as the buildings rushed past us. We could see the sun peaking at the edges of our vision, showing us that it had reached the break of dawn. Another day to start things off, another day to get stronger, and another day that we've lost on the other side; we might be showing smiles right now but we all knew it. The only way we were getting out of here alive was to kill monsters, rack up the rewards, and continue on doing this; over and over again. The scenery then began to change, our figures rushed past the guards that stood at the gate of the city and our feet began to hit dirt. Running like this, with the wind rushing past me and my eyes filled with the beauty that this world could over, it was so easy to forget that I was running towards what could be the most delicate part of my life.: the beautiful death game of SAO. The endless plains of greenery stretches as far as the eye could see and then some, the mountains behind the valleys stood tall and proud, which made me wonder just how huge the entirety of the 100 floors of Aincrad really was.

"Switch!"

The staggering form of the wolf entered my view as the light blue and white clothed back of Keith moved to the right after the execution of his sword skill. I charged in, my feet seemingly gliding across the vegetation that grew around us as the «Iron Sword» in my right hand sliced through the space that kept the staggering «Wolf» and me apart. The tip of my sword arced, the edge connecting with the throat of the wolf and a howl was torn out of it. It didn't do enough damage to kill it as only 5% of its total HP was shaved away with it. Still, the health dropped down enough that as soon as my swing returned to my side; I stood still to allow the energy to build up. The red glow grew and I leapt forward, my «Horizontal» aimed at the middle portion of the wolf.

A 'gasha' sound echoed out as the wolf I had aimed for was pushed away by another one of its pack. I grunted out a coarse Switch as I was stuck in the cool down period of the «Sword Skill» and staying like this with an active wolf right in front of me was just asking for trouble. Keith launched himself forward, his own weapon glowing in a sharp green color as he struck the underbelly of the monster that had been about to «Bite» me with an «Uppercut». Scoring a critical hit, the enemy in front of me shattered and I was released from my own cool down. Raising my sword up in a defensive position, I stood by Keith's side as the two other «Wolves» stalked a circle around us. I felt my grip slacken a bit, my fingers aching a dull pain as I focused myself to stay in the battle rather than be swept away by my train of thought. We've been fighting here for the past…4 hours. We've been lucky enough that we didn't have to deal with critical hits in that span of time and our rhythm had yet to be broken apart which meant that the use of the Health Potions were sparse. It did not change the fact that we had to use them. Draining half of the Potion of Minor Healing for myself and handing Keith the last dregs of it, I snuck a peek at my Iron Sword and I had to stop myself from outwardly wincing at whatever remaining Durability it had.

Both edges of the weapon had several chips running down it and I was surprised it even managed to last this long. If things continued on like this, I'll be fighting without a weapon and if I didn't have a weapon, I was as good as screwed. I hissed back in reflex at the snarls I received from the collection of data in front of me, my thoughts having been led astray enough that I didn't even notice Keith was already standing behind my back in the same position as me. I blew a strand of hair off of my face as I lowered the volume of my voice. "You get mine and I get yours?" I made sure to keep an eye to check on the wolves that were pawing the ground already. I could only hear a quick 'yeah' before the wolves leapt at us. I turned to my right and my partner turned around to my left. Our swords glowing in their respective colors as my arms had positioned themselves for a «Slant» and the wolves were closing in, their massive maws ready to chow down on our necks. I uttered a wordless cross of a shout and a grunt out loud and swung. At that moment, 2 things shattered into a million polygons. 2 mewls of pain could also be heard as the wolves landed on opposite sides again.

My eyes twitched in surprise, my body locking up in fear. My sword broke. I was weaponless. Both of the wolves were still alive. I had to make a move and quick. Fear gripped my heart as I saw Keith in the same situation as me. I pushed him away, and told him to run. He didn't want to have any of it. I heard the anger come back at an increasing pace and I shoved him again. I hissed to him that I had 'Hiding' in a skill slot. He stood in place as if bloody contemplating it. I was already telling him that I had a way out, and he needed to fucking run if he wanted to live. If there was anyone who was going to die because of a mistake, it was going to be me. Joe and Franco would benefit more with Keith being alive rather than me. We were near a ledge and I checked the almost full health bar that my friend sported. He was about to stand by me to the end, and it touched my heart, but he had to live. As the growls became as loud as they could, I kicked ZeroR off the ledge and saw him look at me with eyes of betrayal. I mouthed the word 'Sorry' before turning my back at him. He would survive the fall; it wasn't that high and at the worst, he'd end up with 50% of his hit points left.

"I swear. I should be shitting my pants with how retarded I am."

I uttered to myself, a wry smile on my face as I waited for the wolves to get closer. The first one leapt at me, to which I responded by sliding beneath it and managing to dodge the first strike. I wasn't good enough to evade the follow up strike as I felt my ankle get chewed on by the remaining «Wolf». I screamed in pain, the rational though of it all being virtual discomfort was drowned out by the psychological impact of seeing such a realistic wolf biting down on your ankle. I responded immediately with fear at the forefront of my mind. I lashed out with my foot, trying to shake it off with as much strength as I could. I rolled around and slammed my free foot on the top of its skull. It did squat damage to its life bar but it was enough to at least dislodge the fangs from my ankle.

I swallowed back the numbness that my fear brought with and threw myself forward again. The scrapes on my arms were very little compared to the bite that took away 40% of my total HP. I pushed my body to keep on running to keep on moving. I waved my hand in front of me, selected the Hiding Skill that I had grown fairly accustomed to. If the wolves could detect me with something else aside from sight, then I was screwed beyond all relief.

I gambled with my life and activated [Hiding].


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Warlords And Fairy Tales

It was cold. Nothing compared to a cold shower in the morning, but the cold was unnatural. It felt unnatural. I had to force myself to remember that these things were just data. Just…numbers and codes meant to look like, meant to feel like they were real. I just couldn't bring my body to move and in this moment of vulnerability did I begin to feel that the world wasn't as perfect as it was meant to be or rather, the world was too perfect. The way the grass curled and gave way to the strength behind my hands didn't have that itchy feeling that always lingered moments after the contact was broken. I exhaled, my mind having finally regained enough processing power to make my virtual body follow its commands. Something was nagging at the back of my mind though, as if I was forgetting something life threatening.

I sat up faster than a bullet.

I felt the skin around my body, absent-mindedly noticing that my upper torso was bare, and looked around to see if my weapon was with me. I looked around haphazardly, my eyes scanning everything it could lay its weary gaze upon, in an attempt to find out what just happened to me. It was when the memories came flooding back did everything suddenly become clear.

The world was beginning to darken, and for a moment, everything went black. I didn't stop at that as I had already seen this phenomenon happen to me over and over again. What should have freaked out people had barely left a mark on me. Then again, it was my own [Hiding] skill taking its effect. The wolves behind me had continued their snarls; be it from frustration or anger I did not wait to find out. The sounds didn't stop and so did my feet. Another twig fell victim to my frantic escape as my stomp broke it in two. My eyes were tunneling in, the sole minded reason of me wanting to run away becoming my only light in the darkening tunnel. A tree appeared before me and I leaned the right before curving my track. I ignored the chomping sound behind me that seemed to echo all around. The heavy footfalls continued, the dead grass and the gnarling trees of the forest were lost to me as I kept my pace. Never have I been so thankful for the infinite stamina feature this game had.

'Rrrrriiiip!'

And I was sent stumbling to my left, hitting my side with the tree. The annoying warning bells and flashing of my now red HP Bar brought me back to focus the second after I had 30% of my HP be shaved away again. I could feel the wind slapping itself against my heaving chest, and I had the energy to scowl at the turn of events. It was as if these wolves were purposely trying to break all of my damn equipment! With my Cotton Clothes now in polygons, I was only left running with my pair of pants and the shoes I had on me. No sword, no items, no armor, no survivability. I took the chance to look back, my brain instantly regretting that decision as I came face to face with a wide-open maw of a Wolf trying to bite my face off. For whatever reason it was, the space between my face and the fangs suddenly became a constant. I was moving forward still, but the distance didn't change. The next moment, I felt the back of my head hit the grimy glass beneath me while the underbelly of the wolf be exposed to me.

I closed my eyes shut, just waiting for the inevitable end. I knew that there were two Wolves running after me and I had only seen one so far. The other one should be here soon, and with how low my HP was, I would die from the weakest of the attacks. I felt my brain scream at me, it kept telling me that I had to fight, that I had to do something. It felt like an eternity spent stuck inside my thoughts as the killing blow that I had hoped to fend off never came. What did come, however, was the sound of polygons shattering again. The adrenaline and the mental fatigue of having to run for your life finally caught up to me, my tunnel vision becoming less of a tunnel and more of just a murky blackness everywhere. The last thing I saw was a figure reminiscent of the being that trapped me here reach out.

"Son of a…"

Let it be known that I swear a lot. My head felt fuzzy, how it came to be as such, I dare not find out why. Grasping the side of my head, I wobbly got up to my feet and noted that my health bar had been filled to at least half way. A lot safer compared to the red I was in when I was running away but it didn't change the fact that my safety was still in high risk. Again I looked around the field to check up if there was anyone there with me. I focused my stare, hoping that I'd at least get a reaction out of the environment but as to my undesirable amount of luck, I got nothing. I raised my hand forward, the starting gesture of opening the status menu, and was about to open it to at least message my friends so they'd know where I was.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

I fought against the entire world to make myself not shit my pants when I heard that voice. It wasn't heavy, it wasn't low pitched, it wasn't even menacing, but it scared me. I slowly raised both of my hands and placed them on the back of my head, my actions going a lot faster than I intended to due to the feeling of a Dagger touching my back. I gulped, almost audibly even, as my head began to warp around ideas concerning the stories about PKers, or Player Killers as they were called. In a game where your death meant your actual death in the real world, PKers were more or less considered murderers. To be held up by one this early in the game, with not even a week having passed since the announcement, I was already being held back at knifepoint. I slowly opened both of my hands into palms and raised them in the air where my could-be-killer can see them. The universal sign for 'I surrender' was what I was doing.

"Good boy, at least you know how to listen to orders. Unlike those little bastards."

I could still feel my heart beating out of my chest and it felt like the world was slowing down again.

"I swear, they call themselves Ninjas but all they could do against me were throw stupid knives. Now they're pretty much labeled as orange players for trying to harm someone they couldn't kill."

Wait what, they had Ninjas here? Much as I was concerned for my health and safety, the surprising idea of Ninja's existing in this game had me relax my body by a miniscule amount. Said amount allowed me to focus a bit more though.

"You must be wondering who I am, right? Well, worry no more Peasant, for I shall introduce myself."

I could feel the weapon at my back moving away and I stepped forward just a bit. She didn't seem to hold anything against me as the voice ordered me to turn around. I did, and I saw a girl. A girl who didn't even reach to my chin standing in front of me with her long violet hair swaying in the virtual breeze around us. Chocolate brown eyes looked at me fiercely, and almost feral for a second. I then began to notice the red cloak she was wearing and how she hiked it backwards to give me a better view of her equipment.

"Behold! I am Satoshi Himegami! The Future Warlord of Aincrad!"

I didn't know if I should be impressed or disappointed that someone like this, someone as delusional as to thinking they cold become a warlord, had caught me and pretty much decided wether I should keep my life or not. While she was introducing herself, along with her motions of what looked to be a kabuki dance or whatever the hell it was, I could honestly see her trying to fit the theme of a Samurai…or at least something like that. The knife that I thought she had on her person turned around to be a curved weapon, a scimitar even if I knew my weapons right. Her armor, despite not looking anything like what the Samurai's wore in the movies, tried to depict as much. Red boots, red pants, a chain mail shirt with some sort of armor on it and red gauntlets. I guessed she didn't have a helmet on cause of the hood.

"Hmph."

Her voice snapped me out of my musing.

"You must be impressed to see me as such! I can already tell that you will become a fine vassal one day."

Wait what, was I staring? What does she mean 'a fine vassal?!' I was about to voice my disagreement with her, but she took my opening of my mouth as a sign of eagerness and held up a palm to stop me from moving.

"Say no more, Peasant. Under me, you shall flourish, and as my underling you too will gain the spoils of war this world has to offer!"

My raised hands were brought forward to my chest and I was waving them frantically in a 'no hell, shit, no I'm not joining you' motion. She seemed to get the 'no' in my panicky way of conveying my answer and I could see her huge smile suddenly morph into a tight line. I slunk back a bit, attempting to cover myself thinking that it'd help me someway. I didn't know how, I just thought that it would. When the event that I had been expecting to happen not, well, not happen, I took a quick peek at the girl in front of me. Yeah, she was still wearing that tight line of a lip at me and she seemed to be in deep thought.

Then it broke into a shit-eating grin.

I felt my blood run cold at that expression.

"What's that grin for?"

I asked in a way that would have girls flocking at me as if I was better than buttered bread. Note the sarcasm in my speech.

"Do you have anyone you have vowed your loyalty to?"

That was a strange question to ask but seeing her get up, and how she's been acting towards me lately, I'm willing to guess that she's probably asking me if I was partied up with someone at the moment. Looking over the top left side of my screen, the only health bar I could see was mine. Must have meant that I'm pretty far off from where my friends are. I pretty much resigned myself to the craziness that this girl was exuding and I shook my head to show that no, I wasn't partying with anyone as of the moment.

"Good! You see, I'm sorta on my way to a party quest right now and I needed someone who was willing to join my conquest. Of course, you don't have to do anything aside from accepting the mission with me. Stupid parameters telling me I need to at least be in a group of two to accomplish it."

As she was spouting off stuff, with the first half the only part that I really deemed important enough and the other just garbage, I hesitantly raised my hand to tap on the accept button on the party invitation she had given me. I flexed my fingers and my hand reflexively headed towards the side where I kept my weapon and catching nothing but air. I had the shame to at least looked embarrassed and told the 'Warlord' in front of me that I was pretty much packing nothing on my person.

"Peasants can't be picky, I suppose. Hold'n, lemme open up the trade menu."

I wanted to retort, tell her that I wasn't some low life beggar who couldn't do squat on my own…but I was getting free stuff out of the 'goodness', or at least I hoped it was the goodness part, of her heart. The trade menu opened up soon enough and I was faced with the equipment I was going to be using for whatever quest it was that this madwoman was gonna pull me in to. There was something called 'Leather Coat', 'Iron Dagger' and 'Iron Sword' look-a-likes. My fingers tapped on the Col Icon at the bottom right of the screen and, looking at my current savings and the amount I was most probably going to get from the drops from the boars and wolves, decided to pay her back at least 200 cols worth.

"Ah! If you were only more open-minded to being a vassal, I would be proud of you. To be willingly giving tribute to the future Warlord of this reality, I am impressed, peasant!"

It looked like I did the right thing, or whatever it was, because the girl in front of me was back to her usual self. Grinning like a fool and looking at the world like it was hers for the taking. The trade window closed and I tapped the accept button for the party. Soon enough, the name [HIMEGAMI SATOSHI] appeared just beneath my name and I took a quick peek at her level. My face probably mirrored the opposite of hers. Here I was, a measly level 2, half way to level 3, partying with a level _4_ of all people. So despite her craziness and rather eccentric nature, she actually had an idea of how to play this game.

"It is only natural for a Peasant to be below his Warlord's strength. Let us go then."

_Great_. Another girl who's judging me cause of my level. I was about to fall back into my old habits and retort back, tell her that it was just a game. It then that I remembered that…no…this wasn't just a game anymore. I had no right to say anything like that, to be envious of the power others held. Wasn't it because of their own efforts that they became this strong? Sure, we were just starting out, but with my level simply being this low… I shook my head, now wasn't the time to be disappointed and throw self-pity around. I opened up my menu and equipped the «Leather Coat» and both the weapons given to me. I didn't have an extra slot for the «Dagger» weapon skill so I was pretty convinced that the weapon was going to be used more as an auxiliary defense rather than as an actual offense. My feet brought me at least 3 steps behind the girl, following the role of the servant in this weird rendition of a Master-Servant relationship to the smallest, for me anyway, detail while having my Skill Window and Stat Window opened. To say the least, I often lagged a bit behind as I worried about my current bonus factors and my stats.

Giving out a tired sigh, I closed both my windows and simply followed the girl still. She wasn't being talkative either, which made me wonder just what kind of quest would make someone I pegged as a chatter box to be so eerily quiet. It almost didn't fit her image of 'The Future Warlord Of Aincrad.' She probably heard something I didn't as the girl suddenly put on a burst of speed and began running through the forest. I tried to catch up with her, and surely enough I could hear the sounds of howling and something hitting the bark of a tree. She seemed to have slowed down a bit, allowing me to catch up and catch the breath I didn't know I was trying to regain. She raised her hand and pointed at the direction of where the cutting sound came from, in which my eyes followed. A golden «!» could be seen hovering over a rather pudgy looking lumberjack.

"C'mon peasant, let's get this conquest started!"

I could hear the excitement ooze out of her voice, as I just kept quiet. It was for the best to let her handle the game mechanics and just ask her for details when we had the luxury of time on our side. We approached the pudgy middle-aged lumberjack, his denim jumpers contrasting rather negatively with his neon green colored shirt, and the man had taken note of us.

"Greetings my good sir! I am Lord Satoshi from the East, and this here is my Servant. May I inquire as to know what you are doing?"

To what I thought would've been one of the more over the top entrances actually worked as the exclamation mark on the lumberjack's head changed into a golden question mark. The Lumberjack turned back to trying to chop the wood, seemingly ignoring us, when in his next strike, the axe he was holding slipped from his hands and flew through the air, sailed with the wind and as my eyes followed the strikingly familiar scene, fell within the lake behind us; a lake that I never noticed until now. I took a glimpse at the Lumberjacks crest fallen expression as he rushed towards the lake, as if his actions would grant him some sort of hope. I looked at my supposed partner for the trip then, and was pretty confused as to why she seemed so bored with the turn of events.

"Oh great merciful goddess, please have pity on me for my only axe has fallen into the lake!"

The lumberjack continued to babble incoherently as I just watched in surprised silence. I looked towards Satoshi again and she seemed to be taking everything in stride. When the man had finished talking to some one I couldn't see, he turned to look at us and with hunger that was reminiscent of a man going through withdrawal, approached us. The crazed look in his eyes showed us nothing but desperation. As if this was his only choice to survive in this deathly world.

"Please…please…I beg of you…"

He began his tale of what the goddess of the lake had told him. I allowed him to finish, listening to what he had to say about his only source of income being cutting wood and that without his trusty axe, he wouldn't be able to feed his family of two. He was also too old to go to the location to where the goddess had stashed her treasures, and in his stead, that the two of us, my partner and I, to go. He produced some sort of medallion or crest thing and handed it to the leader of the party.

"Please take it to the Lake Goddesses Cave. It's only north of this place, and all you have to do is give it to the guardian of the cave and you will be rewarded with the axe."

I guess that was what we needed to do. I looked over to the scroll that had appeared on the edge of my screen and it promptly scrolled down as if it read my mind. It told me that my quest information had been updated and that I had a new objective. Satoshi, however, didn't miss out the chance to act as if she really was a warlord.

"Do not worry! I shall find this guardian of yours and give him this token of your wishes and dreams! We shall return here, safe and with the spoils of this journey!"

She swished her cape around and ordered for me to follow her footsteps. I just looked back at the old man slump down behind the tree and pet the wolf he had with him. I held back any snide remarks I could have made there and once more trudged through the forested area with little to no noise or any attempts at making small talk with my companion. She, however, seemed to be rather focused on the task of hand. How her black eye brows creased in focus and her chocolate colored eyes seemed to be burning with a desire to complete this quest. I gave her a small tired smile, a smile she couldn't see, as I readied my body for a bit more running. Best I try and enjoy the experience while I can.

"So Satoshi."

She gave me the dirty eye as I walked right beside her.

"I mean, My Lord."

She nodded for me to continue on while I felt my self sweat at that particular requirement when addressing her.

"My Lord, why do you look like as if you know what to do? We've been going in what seems to be circles but I don't think we're actually lost."

She remained silent and slowed down her pace into a calm walk. Satoshi crossed her arms and went into what I would dub as her thinking pose. I could hear her hum around, as if she was throwing the idea around in her head. As if she was debating if I was worth the time to tell about why she exactly knew on what to do for this quest. She stopped completely as we arrived at a small down ward slope. Focused as I was to her form, I only now noticed the mouth of the cave in front of us.

"I guess this is where we find the guardian waiting for us?"

I asked her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"This place, yes, but not here. The guardian lies within the caves. Now, this is where I want you to make sure to be careful."

I was actually taken aback by the no nonsense tone she had began to use on me.

"If you can survive the cave, not only will we complete the quest, but I'll also tell you why I know these things."

She didn't wait for my reply as she entered the cave beneath us. I shrugged my shoulders at her reaction; I didn't need to be told repeatedly that I had to be careful. I wasn't some kid who didn't know left from right after all. Stomping down the irritation boiling inside of me, I followed Satoshi's form and entered the cave. To where I had expected some sort of loading screen, or at least some kind of transition that told me I was entering a new area, nothing happened. My body simply entered the cave mouth, the scenery before me obviously different, and that was it. The physical sensation had, of course, changed and left me feeling slimy. The moist entrance began to do the whole 'drip drip drop' sound effects and the BGM had effectively changed the deeper Satoshi and I walked into the cave.

My eyes wandered the marvelous creation, the realistic moss that clung to the walls and how my feet sunk against the soft ground. There was some semblance of light left, as the rays from the outside had managed to reach inside the cave. Following a turn that Satoshi made had however, robbed me of my sight and I was suddenly walking blind. My eyes quickly caught sight of a small spark and a torch lit up in front of me. There it was again. The grim determination I found on Satoshi's face almost seemed out of place with how she had presented herself to me not long ago. She had also unsheathed her Scimitar, the tension having probably gotten to her as well. Waving the torch around, show casing the path before us, I took the signal and focused in front of me.

For the most part, the cave was rather easy to navigate. There were neither stalagmites nor stalactites for the most part, and the terrain wasn't hard to maneuver in. It was, however, pretty wide and could possibly fit in 7 of me should I decide to walk side by side. Satoshi kept gripping her sword and the evident shaking in her hands had started to make it more noticeable. Reaching a fork on the path, I was about to ask Satoshi which direction to choose and ask if we should leave a marker or something to help us when we back track. The girl just kept continuing on a selected path and I did little to nothing to stop her. Resigned myself that this was how it was going to be, I instead focused on my surroundings instead and enjoyed the sights the weak glow of the fire would allow me to see.

A few more minutes of silence, my hands quickly rose to the air in a battle ready position when I heard a thump in front of us. A hissing sound soon followed and Satoshi herself placed the torch in front of us. It was hairy, it was huge, and it had 8 legs and it was at least as big as a full-grown dog. I wanted to freak out at seeing such a huge ass spider blocking the path when a blue glow cut through the air and the monster screeched out in pain. Already, I could see the holder of the torch finishing her «Sword Skill» and was about to continue fighting. Gripping my weapons, I told myself that I wouldn't be a coward and threw myself into the fray. I opened my attack with a stab using the one handed I had with me, and continued with a quick thrust by the dagger as I pulled back the sword that had stabbed into the side of the monsters hide. As if by reflex, my right arm fell back to a familiar pose and my sword began to glow a bright red. I executed a «Slant», the system assisting my motions as the attack connected.

Stuck in the cool down, I would have received the full brunt of the spider bite had it not been for Satoshi jumping in with some sort of double slash skill and stunning the spider. Released from my cool down, I once more retracted my sword arm into position and unleashed a hasty «Linear». The attack connected and the monster before me shattered into a million polygons. My breathing relaxed and my eyes widened as I saw the experience I had gained just from killing one of those critters.

"Good to know that you didn't piss your pants in fear, Peasant."

I heard Satoshi's voice congratulate me as her haughty tone began to bleed into the conversation again. The fight had allowed us to not only gain more experience but banish the tension that had began to build up. Any more of it, and I could have probably cut through it with a «Vertical».

"Still, that wouldn't be the worst of it. This cave, after we cross that clearing, will be teeming with these creepy crawlies and you'll have to be extra careful not to get bitten. The poison they have may not be that strong, but it sure as hell would suck now that we actually die in the real world if HP drops to zero."

"How much farther are we supposed to go? I'm not saying that you're weak or anything, but I feel like we should've brought more people with us."

I gave my honest opinion for the matter at hand because Satoshi was right. We screw up here, we die for real. No second chances, no respawns, no nothing. She continued walking; seemingly ignoring my question and I shook my head at her attitude. I continued following her form in the darkness, and like she had said, there was a clearing not too far from where we had slain that giant spider. It was also a lot brighter too; bright enough that we didn't need the torch to see where it was that we needed to go to.

"Here should be a good place to take a breather. In case you don't know, this area's called a «Safe Zone». We don't lose HP here, and monsters won't bother us either. Perfect place to catch our breath and devise a plan of action for the quest."

I just took everything in stride, having already known what a «Safe Zone» does. Sitting after Satoshi picked a place, a couple of rice balls materialized on her lap and in a surprising show of generosity, handed me two pieces. I was about to decline the offer when the uncomfortable pangs of virtual hunger began to strike me. Taking the meal, I gave her a quiet thank you and began to stuff my mouth with the food. She laughed at my antics and proceeded to imitate me. I pointed out at how unlady like it was for her to be doing that and she ended up threatening my remaining rice ball. We shared a few laughs, the tension bleeding out, and I already began to feel better about the situation. It was amazing what a few bites could do for someone's mood.

"You know, Satoshi, after this mission, I should really introduce you to my friends. You'll fit right in with us."

I told the Warlord and she gave me a small grin in return. Told me the she would think about it before standing up and patting down the imaginary dirt she had on her person. She looked at me and I knew it was time to go. I stood up, and we both opened our windows. Weapons and armors materializing on our persons, Satoshi then proceeded to step forward and raised her torch high. It was time to continue on with the Quest. As ready as I could possibly be, I confidently strode along her side as we ventured forward. Not long after, Satoshi ended up punching my shoulder playfully and shoved her thumb backwards. I rolled my eyes, made an awkward two handed lazy as all hell salute, and followed. The peaceful journey didn't last too long as, true to Satoshi's earlier statement, the goddamn spiders began appearing more frequently.

The width of the cave proved to be disadvantageous to us, as instead of simply using it for convenient «Switches», the spiders had area to maneuver as well. We couldn't open up with sword skills due to the lag we'd leave ourselves in and that condition just made it all the more difficult for me and Satoshi to get through the arachnids. I felt my hand once more retract and fall back to the same pattern I've been using as of late. I'd open up with heavy slashes to the first opponent I spot, seeing as I wasn't bogged down with heavy equipment like my partner, before ending it with a one handed «Slant» or «Vertical». During my lag time, Satoshi would barge in with a heavy «Cross», a sword skill that included two «Slants» in perpendicular angles. Depending on the remaining health of the opponent, I'd either finish it with a simple thrust with my dagger or sword.

In this case, I had over estimated the damage my dagger would have dealt and had to make a rushed strike with my sword. A shattering of polygons ended up being my award. I took a moment to calm myself down and allow for the Col, Exp and Drops window to finish calculating itself and adding themselves to my stats. Of course, fighting for your life in such dangerous situations with monsters that were at least a level or 2 higher than you bore rewards for the fools hardy enough to try. The glorious golden glow on the side of my screen alerted me to a much-awaited level up. I saw all my stats rise up by their respective amount and was given the choice to allot 3 more stat points to any of my preferred locations. I was sorely tempted to simply add all of them to my Agility again but instead thought better on it. Placing two under STR and one under DEX, I then closed my windows and turned to Satoshi. Our eyes met and it was time again to move forward.

"We're almost there. Here, take this. We'll need to have our health at full for any surprises we might face behind the door."

Satoshi suddenly called me out and it was only thanks to my awesome catching skills did I not drop the potion that she lobbed at me. I chugged down the concoction and while waiting for my health to go up, decided to play scout and kept my eyes peeled open just in case another batch of spiders decided it would be fun to try and eat us for dinner.

"Laz, I think it's better if I just tell you now. Better you know why instead of having you trust in me like a fool. The reason why I know all of these things is because -"

"We had a deal, right?"

I rudely cut her statement off.

"Curious as I am, we did make a contract and I'd very much prefer it if we keep to it. 'Sides, it looks to be a really touchy subject with you, and being conflicted ain't gonna help us if whatever's behind this door freaks you out this much."

I nodded to myself as I saw my HjP bar blink once to signify that it was now full. I checked the durability of the equipment that Satoshi gave me and was satisfied to see that it should still last me quite a bit. And suddenly, I felt the discomfort emerge from my shoulder as Satoshi blew on her knuckles.

"Tch, who gave you permission to act cool?! Remember who's the Warlord around here, you peasant."

"Glad to see you're back to normal, Satoshi."

"Let's just go. Your attitude as a Vassal is rather irksome and I need something to vent my disappointment in."

I hid a small smile at that and the two of us pushed the double doors backwards. It didn't budge at all for the first moments and since I was pushing with my head looking downwards, I had a thought of the door being an Immortal Object. It might as well have been but it finally gave way and both Satoshi and I managed to get inside. The dreary atmosphere that I had gotten used to caused me to gape at the sudden change in scenery. From the dank caves that held mold and moss everywhere, I was now confronted with lush greeneries with a small tree even growing in the middle of the small room. My eyes, as amazed as they were at the changes, were drawn to the tree in the middle. I scanned the features, admiring at how realistically unrealistic the image was, a tree inside a cave, before focusing on the objective of the quest.

"That there's the axe, supposedly rumored to be able to cut down anything in its path. No matter what the lore said though, it still looks like an ordinary axe to me."

I heard Satoshi mutter as she stepped forward, her purple hair swaying behind her as she raised the token she had received from the old man not too long ago. The room began to shake and I immediately aimed for the closest thing I could grab on to secure myself. The shaking, however, did not last as long as I thought it would and eventually stopped. The tree in the center, however, changed. From the normal everyday tree you'd see, now, it looked to be the normal everyday tree you'd see except this one had a face. Complete with moving eyes, a mouth, nose and everything that would consist of a normal person's face.

"Who dares….awaken me….from my….slumber?"

The voice of the tree was painfully slow, as if it was simply waking up from resting its tired body. I let go of the vines I had latched on to and walked towards Satoshi, my face featuring an expression of askance.

"It is I, the Warlord of Aincrad, Satoshi Himegami! From the request of the Goddess Of The Lake do you surrender the Axe you have. This Emblem is my proof of my noble journey."

I saw my teammate lob the trinket towards the tree and was more surprised to find the tree being capable of catching it with the vines around it. It seemed to inspect the item for a bit before grunting in affirmation. Seconds later, the tree groaned loudly, as if splitting itself in two and the Axe dropped from its trunk. A noisy clanky sound echoed around the room and I stepped forward to grab the axe. With Satoshi not asking me to stop or anything, I figured I wasn't doing anything wrong. Carrying the Axe in my hands and carefully making my way behind the wanna be warlord, the tree then began to groan again as it twisted itself back to its original shape.

"Well…that was anti-climactic. All we have to do now is give back the thing to the Lumberjack right?"

I was honestly expecting to fight the tree or something with how the quest was building up. If this wasn't a death game, I would've been bored at the lack of fighting the quest had but given that if I do die here, I die on the other side, I was more content to let events like this slide. My partner looked to be in serious thought however, but as she turned to me and noticed my question, she shook her head as if to say something and simply brightened up with a smile.

"More or less! Now c'mon, let's give that old man his axe! The Bonus EXP should give us a good boost too."

Nodding to her, we made our way out of the cave using the same path we took to get here. There was a strange lack of spiders; possibly the shaking a while ago scared them off, along the path as well. Reaching the entrance, or exit, of the cave, I had to cover my eyes as the harsh impact of light blinded me for a second. It felt like I was in that cave for so long that I forgot what it was to look at things with good lighting. Blinking to get the stars out of my vision, Satoshi and I made our way towards the quest end location while making small talk to pass the time as we were in no significant hurry.

With my thoughts busied with ideas of the possible things I can do in the future and the constant answering of no to join the insistent Warlord's army as her Vassal and Satoshi's chattering just really consisted of her plans of Aincrad-Domination and constant nudges and jibes to get me to join her upcoming army. Her reasoning was that if I join her now, I'll be pretty high up when things really get going and I even get a bonus since I'll be, in technical terms, her right hand man. I told her to give me some time to talk about it with my buds, and that it would be really great for her to meet them. All in all, the mood was rather lax and light hearted between the two of us.

At least, it was until we got back to the Old Man.


End file.
